Japanese and U.S. officials are holding high-level talks Saturday in Washington focusing on how to realign the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan.
The State Department says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are meeting with their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and Defense Minister Yoshinori Ohno.
Earlier this week, the United States accepted a Japanese proposal for relocating a U.S. air base on Okinawa, where about two-thirds of U.S. troops stationed in Japan are based.
The proposal includes moving the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station out of the crowded urban center of Ginowan, and to build a new landing facility, 40 kilometers north of Ginowan at the U.S. Marine Corp's Camp Schwab.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.
